The UNC System Office commissioned a report called "Leading on Literacy" that identified opportunities to improve teacher preparation programs, particularly in literacy instruction. In response, the UNC System Office convened the Educator Preparation Advisory Group comprised of P12 and higher education experts to develop strategies to improve teacher preparation. The Advisory Group will launch Communities of Practice focused on early learning and literacy to incorporate insights from learning science into teacher preparation programs with a focus on improving literacy and numeracy instruction.

1. UNC System Educator Preparation Advisory Group
In early 2018, the UNC System Office commissioned a report, Leading on Literacy, to examine
undergraduate teacher preparation programs within UNC Institutions. The study identified several
opportunities for improvement in teacher preparation, particularly in effective literacy instruction. It
also identified several possible ways for the UNC System Office to better support faculty and leaders in
teacher preparation more broadly.
One of the System Office’s first actions, recommended in the report, was to convene the Educator
Preparation Advisory Group, comprised of education experts across P12 and higher education, with the
mission to support and accelerate improvement of teacher preparation in North Carolina.
Together with leadership from the UNC System Office, the Educator Preparation Advisory Group is
charged with prioritizing and developing system-wide strategies and initiatives to improve teacher
preparation in North Carolina, beginning with those recommended in the Leading on Literacy report.
From 2018 into 2019, the Educator Preparation Advisory Group will engage Deans and faculty in
Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) alongside P12 educators and system leaders to develop:
 Concrete, measurable goals for teacher preparation within the UNC System that clearly signal
expectations and facilitate accountability and continuous improvement;
 Prioritized, system-wide strategies and initiatives to move teacher preparation toward those goals,
with an initial focus on early literacy;
 Potential partnerships, resources, and support needed to advance EPPs’ work on those strategies; and
 Mechanisms by which the Advisory Group and the System Office will oversee and share information
about implementation and evaluation of those strategies.
The Educator Preparation Advisory Group is co-chaired by Ann Clark, former Superintendent of
Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools; Dr. Anthony Graham, Provost at Winston-Salem State University; and
Dr. Marilyn Sheerer, Provost at UNC-Wilmington.
The membership similarly represents North Carolina’s P12 and higher education systems, including:
1. Deans and Faculty from UNC Colleges and Schools of Education;
2. Leaders from North Carolina’s P12 schools, including superintendents, principals, school board
members, and current and future teachers; and
3. National experts on teacher preparation and education policy.
Each strategy and initiative that the Educator Preparation Advisory Group prioritizes will take the form
of a “Community of Practice,” an action-focused cohort comprised primarily of faculty and leadership
within EPPs that identify one or more area that they most need – or are best positioned – to work on to
accelerate improvement.
The Advisory Group will launch its first Community of Practice, focused on early learning and literacy, in
early 2019. This group will work to incorporate insights from learning science – particularly as it relates
to early literacy and numeracy – into educator-preparation program design, including course syllabi,
methods, and clinical experiences.
The System Office will use this and future Communities of Practice to organize its primary work with
Deans, enabling action-focused cohorts to tackle common challenges to improve teacher preparation in
North Carolina.